How long should you wait before transferring to another unit????

cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP · Sep 23, 2009

I can see there is a lot of discussion on here amongst users on the amount of time to stay on one unit before you transfer. I think it depends on three things; (1) your institution's policy on transferring units, (2) the number of positions open in the department you wish to transfer to and (3) how badly you want to leave the unit your on. In my hospital you have to stay in a position for six months before you can transfer to a new department. I worked as a tech. on a Med/Surg unit and I hated it and after the six months I found a position as a tech. in the Pediatric ER and I transferred. I haven't regretted it but I know that as an RN I would have had more difficulty leaving so soon. I think that you need to look at the positions available in the other departments but as a rule of thumb I wouldn't leave a department before 6 months and as an RN I would probably wait 1 year until I left but that's just me.

!Chris :specs:

gogatsby · Sep 23, 2009

We're having major issues at the hospital that I work at, and fellow nurses (and even the doctors!) all tell us one thing...protect your license! At times we're told to leave when our "time is up" whether we're done charting or giving report. That is not safe! Along with the pressure to leave on time, we might be hurrying ourselves and not do things correctly. You don't want something to come back to you and not be able to work as a nurse! I think there's a difference between leaving a unit because you don't like it and because you don't think it is safe. While my situation is a little bit of both, the safety issue is definitely a part of it.

dseem13 · Sep 24, 2009

I'm not sure if this varies from location to location or hospital to hospital... I'm sure it does, but a nurse manager told my nursing class that it takes 3 years to break even when you hire a new grad... Hospitals may be very hesitant to hire you thinking they will lose money instead of make money. I would try to transfer within your hospital, unless you truly hate where you are.

Leonurus · Sep 24, 2009

I have been working on a med-surg floor in a small hospital since June as a new grad. Since August, when I started being on my own, I've been absolutely miserable. The ratios are usually 7:1, though I've only made it up to 6 pts so far. Everyone on the floor is very supportive of one another and our aides are mostly wonderful, we just don't have enough people to take care of our pts with high acuity and many who are confused. I often have 4 or 5 out of 6 with personal alarms, scattered all over the floor. It's really scary. Add to that the emotional needs of the pts and the fact that its all I can do just to get their meds into them...I almost never have time to stop and listen/soothe when my pts are crying or anxious. I often do it anyway, then end up way behind. My personal life has become nonexistant-I realized how bad it was the other day when someone asked me what I do for fun, to relieve stress. All of my answers started with "I used to..." I had several days when I tried to find time to go talk to my boss about quitting and literally could not find a break in the action to pee, let alone quit!! Finally, I had a sort of breakdown and couldn't stop crying. My coworker found me in the bathroom and sort of dragged me in to see the unit director. I told him that I just wasn't able to do it any more, told him that I needed to quit. After the way I was funnelled into med-surg straight from nursing school, I expected to be shown the door if I couldn't cut it on that floor. Instead, he had the charge nurse help me out for awhile to catch up and told me to please, please not quit, that he would look for other positions in the hospital that might be a better fit. What he came up with was the director of peds/MCH offering me a position with longer training and more support. No guilt trips or shaming for leaving early, just support and help finding a better situation. The director of mental health has also come to me to talk about cross-training there... These are 2 areas I've been interested in for a long time-a great opportunity. Right now I'm still on med-surg, but there's now a light at the end of the tunnel. I am still feeling bad about jumping off a sinking ship while my coworkers are still there, but I also know that I am not cut out for that type of work. I don't see the sense in destroying myself in order to make it through a certain time frame in a job I already know I hate. I waited until things got really bad before I sought a way out, but what I found out is that you never know what's available unless you ask.

**NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN** · Sep 24, 2009

Now that is an awesome hospital Leonursus.

My job allows you to switch units after a year, or cross train if you would like. You even get a 5% bonus for cross training to another unit, but if they're short on that unit you are required to go. Not a bad deal if you're thinking of switching to another unit, but don't want the full commitment and to be "stuck."

If you really hate it, talk to your boss, sometimes they will make exceptions rather than lose you.

As far as being a "quitter" I have always thought of those as the people who "saw the grass as greener on the other side."

I had a slightly sketchy job history for about a year when I was still doing nursing prerequisites. It wasn't that I was just quitting, but I had got offered a job I originally thought was better, and had some horrible coworkers...and then my dream job called me 6 weeks after I got that job. You don't say no to a dream just because it looks bad on a resume.

See what your work can do with you, then if they can't work with you begin to look elsewhere if it's that bad. If you think you can stick it out, it really does help to have the year.

Good luck!